Behind the Scenes Leadership

National Jewish Health faculty and staff provide leadership that extends well beyond the institution to influence the entire medical and scientific community.

Several faculty hold national leadership roles, including Richard Weber, MD, who began his tenure in November 2012 as president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, leading more than 5,700 practicing allergists and immunologists across the country.

Stanley Szefler, MD, and Harold Nelson, MD, set the standard for asthma care when they helped write the National Institutes of Health’s clinical care guidelines for asthma. Others at National Jewish Health have authored national guidelines for the treatment of tuberculosis, atopic dermatitis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other diseases.

Medical students and others learn from dozens of textbooks authored by National Jewish Health faculty, including Dr. Michael Iseman’s book on clinical care of tuberculosis, Dr. Robert Mason’s on respiratory medicine, and Dr. Teofilo Lee-Chiong’s text on sleep medicine.

Many faculty help set the nation’s research agenda as members of NIH study sections, which review research grant applications. Dr. Szefler has an especially strong influence as chair of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Clinical Trials Review Committee.

Faculty serve on editorial boards and as reviewers for many of the most influential journals in medicine. As editor-in-chief of The Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Donald Leung, MD, PhD, has developed the publication into the most influential journal in the field.